The Program
by Paul Falcon
Summary: Welcome, viewers! You are in for a treat, tonight! 46 contestants will be taking part in a grueling contest that they are DYING to win! Stay tuned! /Battle Royale Fan Fic/
1. Chapter 1: Chosen

Do you know how fortunate it is to be alive?

Health. Freedom. Love of the family.

The truth is that we take all of that stuff for granted.

How should we know?

We live our lives like a broken record…

Just like a sickly, sweet melody playing over and over again.

Like one of those music boxes.

How do we know how to react when the crank reach its final turn?

When the sweet melody comes to an end…

How will we handle it when it's our turn to face the music?

An old, yellow bus drove along through a chilled, starry night. The road before them was quaint and quiet, a feeling of being deserted for a long time. Inside the bus however, was the least bit from being lifeless. The bus was filled with a Junior High Classroom, forty-six teenagers filling the bus. Aside from the students, there was the bus driver and their home room teacher, a middle-aged man who wore glasses and had short, black hair. Five girls sat beside each other and talked loudly over a Reality Show they watched. One boy hid himself away behind a PSP, playing a survival-horror styled game. In the back seats, three African-American boys were just as loud as anyone else can be, cat-calling towards a couple of girls that sat nearby.

A boy with short, brown hair, which he wore spiked up, leaned his head back against his arms, looking over across the hallway to some other boys sitting beside him. "I am telling you, man. One day, you're going to be a star quarterback in the NFL, Alex." The boy with the spiked hair shouted out. The boy called Alex smirked proudly, with his cheek resting upon his cheek, strands of blonde hair resting over his eyes "Damn right, Brad… but, you should be worrying about your professional debut…." Brad blinked a bit and pounded his chest with his fist "What are you talking about, man? You'll see! I'll get so good with my board; I'll surpass Hawk and become a living legend, yo!" The guy sitting beside Alex, and African American male, smirked over at Brad "Sure but, before that, you should work on landing a kick-flip." Brad's eyes widened a bit "Sh-shut up! I've got better! I have, for real! Right, Scott?"

Brad turned over to the boy who he sat by, seeing that the boy was too busy looking out the window to respond. Brad extended his arm out and tapped Scott on the shoulder "Scott, you there? You shouldn't be spacing out like that at such a young age!" Scott seemed to respond to the tapping with a blink and he turned to Brad "Oh, I'm sorry. Uh… what were you talking about?" Brad shook his head "Never mind that. So, what's up? You've gotten quieter since a half an hour ago. What's the deal?" Scott blinked a bit and glanced down, leaning his forehead against the seat before him "N-No, I… i-it's nothing, really." Scott had the uneasy demeanor about himself, which Brad had known very well. Brad let out a chuckle, leaning closer and placing his arm over Scott's shoulders "This wouldn't happen to be related to what we were talking about the night before, right?" Scott pulled away, blushing a bright red "W-what? No, I…"

Brad shook his finger at Scott "You really suck at lying. Look, just talk to her, man. Mandy Winchester, the quiet type but, she's a definite gem. There are a lot of guys who have had their eyes on her but; her sweet demeanor throws them for a loop. Go talk to her, man. This bus ride won't last much longer." Brad glanced over three seats before them on the right side, a brown, straight haired girl with the strands resting over her shoulders. She didn't wear much make-up to mask her face but, it wasn't like she needed it. So natural was her beauty, from the shape of her hazel eyes, small nose, and nicely proportioned lips which looked absolutely beautiful in red. When she stood up, she stood at about 5'5", nothing really standing out about her body but, she was beautiful because of that. Nice curves, breasts that weren't too big nor too small, nicely toned arms and legs. And with a great personality, smart, funny, and open-minded, Mandy Winchester truly was a rare gem amongst the rough.

The girl who sat beside her excused herself and walked down the aisle to converse with some other girls. Brad noticed this and elbows Scott in the side. "Now's your chance, bro. Go for it!" Scott was once again trying to give excuses but, Brad wouldn't have it, forcing Scott out of the chair and moved him over towards the girl. Scott eyed Brad and sighed, seeing that he returned to his seat. He glanced over and noticed Mandy looking up at him and smiling "Hello there, Scott." Scott blushed a bit and rubbed the back of his head "H-hi Mandy… Um, no one's sitting beside you?" Mandy simply shook her head and scooted towards the window seat and patted at the seat. Scott smiled and sat beside her.

Brad leaned his back against his seat and watched Scott as he sat down alongside Mandy and talked with her. Brad smiled, recollecting yesterday, evening time.

Brad and Scott were chilling on the swing set, watching the sun go down. The chilled breeze blew through the trees leaves, most of the leaves managing to hang tight while others welcomed the wind, letting it take them along the current. "Hey Brad? I gotta tell you something." Scott was looking down at the sandpit that lied underneath him, kicking at the sand a little. "Well, let it out, man. I'm all ears." Brad eyed Scott "You know I hate it when you suddenly speak up and don't finish what you are trying to say." Scott blinked and nodded "Oh, right… sorry. Well…" Scott took in a deep sigh, fighting the embarrassment that was building up inside of him "… What I'm trying to say is… I think there is a girl that I… um… that I kinda like…" Brad smiled, teasing Scott's choice of words "Oh? And who is this girl you 'kinda' like?" Scott's cheeks went read as he eyed Brad "W-Well… I really like her. I like her a lot, really. … My heart pounds just thinking about her…"

Brad let out a heartfelt laugh and slapped Scott across the back "Ha ha ha… what's so embarrassing about that? Good for you, Scott! I was getting a bit worried about ya for a moment there. I thought you were a part of 'that' crowd…" Scott glared at Brad "What the hell?! Damn it, Brad… you should know that I, of all people, am less likely to swing that way. I've been having crushes on girls ever since Kindergarten. Kindergarten!" Brad shrugs "Well, you never know… maybe you wanted to get friendly enough with them to try their dresses on or something." Scott punched Brad hard in the shoulder "Fuck you, man. See? This is what I get for trying to talk seriously with you. You are too much of a jokester, man."

Brad just laughed it off "Ha ha ha… but, no more jokes. Who is this chick that is giving you butterflies?" Scott's face went a darker shade of red and he muttered, still in a coherent tone "… promise not to tell anybody?" Brad shook his head and opened his arms "No one here to tell but, me and these trees, bro." Scott got up from the swing he sat on and glanced up towards the sunset with his hands in his pockets "Hey Brad, what do you think about that Mandy girl? She seems like a nice girl, don't you think?" Brad blinked a bit "Whoa, you like Mandy? Man and I thought I was about to hear the name of some girl I've never even heard of. You are no slouch, Scott. Yeah, Mandy is one of the best girls in our whole school. She's very quiet and shy but, that's what makes her so popular. She's a babe and yet, she's so modest… everyone likes that." Scott frowned a bit at that fact "Oh, really?" Brad just smiled, grabbing Scott by the shoulder "Yeah but, I think you one-up them with one certain thing. Thing is, I overheard a conversation of the girls and Mandy was saying how she wishes that a nice, decent boy would approach her. You're a nice, decent boy, aren't ya?" Scott laughed at Brad's question "Just a week ago, we were up all night watching porn… how in the hell is someone going to call that decent?" Brad shrugged a bit "Ah, come on, man. Not everyone is going to be perfect, you know? We are men, after all. Men do things like that so, it can't be helped. The fact is, you treat the girls who are around you right. You don't holla at them. You don't give them stupid names and ask for 'favors'. You don't stare at their tits while talking to them. So, you are what I would call a good guy. Mandy likes good guys so, you have a great chance."

Scott smiled at Brad and nodded "You know, people say you are just the type of guy who is full of hot air, no substance to back up the talk. But, you are such a good friend. But, you still suck at boardin'." Brad grabs his board and eyed Scott "You of little faith… check this out! I'm reaching for the stars! Watch this!" Brad dropped the board and stepped on it, trying to du a nose grind on a step but, ended up falling over. "Aargh… let me try that again…" Scott only chuckled and watched Brad trying again... CRASH! "I'm ok… I think I almost got it, though…" … and again. "Reaching for the moon, huh?" Scott muttered and smiled "…. Yeah, you reach for that moon, Brad."

Brad blinked a bit and woke up from his little time of quiet remembrance to notice that he wasn't the only one sitting quietly. Another thing he noticed was that he was feeling really sleepy all of the sudden. He stumbled his way up, finding that all of his other fellow classmates have fallen under the sleep spell as well. "W-wud duh ell iz gon on…." Brad was unable to talk as much, placing his hand over his face to realize how numb it felt. He moved out from his seat and stumbled his way up the aisle. "Hay… Messtur Dwiva…" Brad fell to his knees, his vision going blurred. He raised his head up, looking at the driver's mirror, noticing that the driver was wearing a gas mask. "wud da… phu…." Brad couldn't fight the dosage he breathed in and fell under its effect, passing out like all the others.

The driver glanced up at his mirror and saw that all the students were knocked out by the substance that was filtering through the air vents. The driver pulled up a radio from his pants pocket "I delivered the package and the kids are 'out to lunch'. Right, I'll be bringing them in, sir. … Yes sir, it's an honor for me to work for 'The Program'."


	2. Chapter 2: Roll Call

A man sat idly in his reclining office chair made of leather, glancing through a binder, flipping through the pages without even looking at them. His hair was brown and combed back, some of his bangs hanging out to give more of a unique look. He was clean shaven, looking no older than the early twenties, and had a beer belly type of physique. He brought his middle finger up, idly pushing his glasses up against his face. He wore a white collared shirt with a black tie, and black slacks, which covered his black dress shoes. "… Damn it, shouldn't they be here by now?" The man drummed his fingers against his desk, laying the folder flat on his desk. The pages shown in the binder happened to show pictures of two girls in Junior High uniforms. One of which was Mandy Winchester. "Ugh… I'm so bored…" The man lowered himself over the desk and sighed for a moment, only raising his head up upon overhearing the radio going off.

"… Krk..shk… Sir, we will be arriving at the dock momentarily, we request assistance with our 'cargo'. Over." A grin formed on the man's face upon hearing that the boat was close to the dock. He grabs the radio off from his desk and presses on the talk button "Very good, El Capitan~! You've heard the man, help him unload. And put those nice, shiny collars on all of them." Other voices, men and women, answered with a "Roger". He placed the radio down and stood up from his chair to stretch when he overheard the sound of heels clacking against the floor, noticing the footsteps got closer to his office.

"We better get going, Mr. Falcon, sir." the voice of slender, Japanese-American woman was heard as she walked into the office. She seemed to be mixed in between due to her facial features and body shape, which gave her some rather significant sex appeal. The blue button up top that was buttoned down enough to show some skin, the white, short business skirt, nylons and black heels helped emphasize her sexy look. Her silky, long black hair, beautiful green eyes, and manicured nails helped complete the package. The big man smiled, stepping close behind the young woman, pressing his body against her back and moving his arms around her body."… Rena-chan… did I tell you not to be so formal? You can just call me 'Paul-kun'… or maybe even… '-sempai'…" He brought his other hand towards Rena's right breast, looking to coup a feel.

Rena stared down and gritted her teeth, not liking the way Paul was acting towards her. When she noticed that he was about to grab for her breast, she had enough. She shoved her elbow right into Paul's face and grabbed for Paul's wrist, flipping the bigger man over her shoulder. Paul groaned upon landing on his back, only to have Rena's heel grinding on his left cheek "Did I tell you not to touch, Mr. Falcon? I can't get you for sexual harassment since you became so valued by our country but, I will hurt you." Paul glanced up from the corner of his eye and laughed "You'll just be adding fuel to the fire, baby…" Rena groans in disgust and grinds her heel harder on Paul's cheek "No, pain is supposed to stop the fire… and don't call me 'baby'…"

A man who was dressed up in an American soldier's combat uniform walked into the office. "Sir, I've… whoa… sorry, I didn't know… um…" The soldier walked in on the scene of Rena grinding her heel on Paul's cheek. Rena stopped and removed her foot from Paul's face. Paul frowned a bit, looking towards the soldier "Never mind it… now, what is it you'd like to tell me?" The soldier stepped back closer and nodded "Arcadia School, Room 206, Michaelis' class has taken their seats in the class room. They should be conscious any minute now." As the soldier was updating them with the current situation, Paul's hand slid over, touching at Rena's leg. Rena didn't make any facial expressions but, she did raise her other leg up and stomped down hard on Paul's wrist. Paul cried out a bit in pain but, managed to keep the situation from looking any weirder "Aaugh… ha ha… that's good, so very good. We will be down there to brief them about the game and then, we'll be ready to roll the cameras. As for you, go down and help bring those survival duffel bags to the classroom." The soldier nodded and moved out of the office.

Rena stepped her way over Paul and turned to him "I'll go on ahead. Get yourself together, will you?" She walked out of the room and walked down the hallway. Paul stood himself up from the floor and reached over to grab his tan overcoat. "Heh… about damn time…" He slips the coat on and adjusts it to fit and look nice. Paul pulled a cigar out from his coat pocket and lit it it up. He grinned widely and walked down the hall.

Chapter 2

[Roll Call]

Hours must have passed but, to the students, it felt like seconds. Some woke up faster than others but, all of them were all wondering the same thing. Another thing they came to notice that they had an added accessory around their neck. Some tried removing it, failing, while others were just sitting there, lost in thought.

"What the hell is this thing around my neck? … Why are we in a class room? Weren't we on a bus…?" the loud-spoken, captain of the Cheerleading Squad, Josephine Hendrix complained. Soon after her sudden outburst, the students who were awake or woke up due to her loud words started looking amongst each other and started voicing their own thoughts. As she glanced back and looked to see everyone was talking, a smirk formed on Josephine's face. _"Ha… look at them all. They were all silent until I, Josephine Hendrix, said something. Everyone wants to follow the popular girl. Follow me all you want, stupid sheep…"_ She thought to herself, not letting such a situation get in her way of self-indulging. She sat back and talked amongst the little group of girls around her, girls she calls "friends" but, would rather call "flock".

Scott was one of the few who woke up from the sudden outburst. "What the hell… shut up…" Scott mumbled as he started to come to. He glanced around a moment and realized that they weren't in the bus anymore. His eyes widened a bit and glanced over, seeing that Brad was sat beside him and was still out of it. "Hey Brad, wake up! Something really weird is going on?" Scott noticed his voice wasn't going to be enough, which led him to shove Brad a little. "C'mon… Wake up."

Brad tried hard to ignore the nagging male's voice, feeling good and relaxed in his sleep. But, the shoving would do his will in as his head moved up from the desk, his eyes only half open as he glanced over towards Scott "What is it?" It was then when he started to notice what all the commotion was about. His eyes opened completely as he took a look around. They were indeed in a class room but, it wasn't their classroom. Nor did it look like any of the other class rooms at their school. "… where in the hell are we…?

Suddenly, the door opens up and a tall, somewhat round man in a business-like suit walks in "Gooood Morning, everybody! Did you all sleep well? Neck craps can be a real bitch.." The man glanced over, motioning for someone to come in. Men dressed up like Soldiers came walking in and dropped duffle bags in the front. Two soldiers stood in the front, as if watching over those bags. Brad took notice of the fatigues the men wore and sighed in relief _"Whew… thought we got caught by some terrorists or something."_ He thought as he took notice of a short, jittery-looking boy standing out of his seat "American soldiers? What the hell is going on? And why are we here? And what the hell is up with this neck thing you put on us?" Brad was about to say something to the boy but, the man in the suit answered "All will be answered soon enough… um…" the man flipped through some pages in his binder "… Paul Thompson, was it? Please have a seat." Brad watched the boy acting more uneasy but, sat down as he was directed. _"He has us on file? What's the purpose of that?"_

Just then a young Asian woman walked into the room with a attack of paper in her arms. Most of the boys in the room started to scope her out as she walked over towards the heavyset man. With the kind of clothes she was wearing, who wouldn't look? "Well now, looks like all of you are in attendance. That saves us from having to hunt any of you down." The msn said with a small hint of a snicker in his voice "You can call me Mr. Falcon. And this lovely lady over here is Ms. Kagura." With no shame, Mr. Falcon patted Ms. Kagura on the ass, only to receive a well-deserved heel stomp to his foot. "Son of a- -… ha ha… Ms. Kagura will hand you a packet which will explain what's going on. We will be reading this together, class!" Kagura counted out the packets for each row and handed them to the first person in the front.

"W-Wait a damn minute…" Josephine Hendrix stood up, slamming the palm of her hand onto her desk. "We were going to head for Palm Springs on a graduation trip! What about that?" Mr. Falcon looked up and smirked "Oh, that? It's been canceled so, we will be doing this now." Josephine glared at the man who just smirked over it "That's bullshit! We put a lot of money into that trip!" Mr. Falcon stepped close to the girl "Such language for a young lady. Someone should wash it out with a bar of soap." Mr. Falcon placed his index finger, checking her out. Josephine grimaced, trying to pull away, only to have a forceful arm hold her up against him. "Hmm… but, if it were up to me, I'd have that mouth all over my di-" Before he could finish his degrading sentence, Ms. Kagura stepped up behind Mr. Falcon and slammed her foot up in between his legs "Keep it in your pants, creep…"

Josephine took this chance to sit herself down, moving out of Mr. Falcon's grasp. Ms. Kagura pulled Mr. Falcon back to the front, Mr. Falcon taking a seat as he let Ms. Kagura take over. "Please take a look at the packet I handed you. By law, which is in effect as of today, all students graduating from Junior High has been placed within a raffle. Of the whole year, one homeroom class will be chosen to take part in a new game show, the first ever airing of the show called 'The Program'." The students muttered amongst one another as the mention of a game show. Brad and Scott glanced towards one another and shrugged to themselves but, Brad couldn't help but, notice one girl who sat there, looking pale as a ghost.

The girl was Aya Seto, who moved to America from Japan about two years ago. "Wh-what is the meaning of this… we moved from Japan to get away from all of this. America was supposed to be our way to be free from the Program…" Mr. Falcon, who seemed to have recovered from his pain, snickered some "Oh, somebody knows about the Program, huh? Your mean parents weren't going to let you join in on the fun? Tsk… no worries because, we are now running the show in the US and how lucky are you to be chosen for our first season!" Tears ran down Aya's face as she totally broke down "… i-iie… iie…" she falls down to her knees, grabbing Mr. Falcon by his right pants' leg "IIYADA!! IIYA…." She screamed out hysterically. The other students just sat there and watched, not grasping the situation whatsoever. The girl hardly breathed within her wailing, the fear causing her to throw up right on the floor in front of her.

Mr. Falcon stood emotionless, eying down at the girl as he reached his hand into his coat. The witnesses suddenly gasped in horror, seeing Mr. Falcon pulled out a gun and pushed the barrel of the gun against the girl's forehead. "Unhand me, little girl. Or should I turn this into a 45-man contest?" Brad couldn't believe what was going on in front of his eyes "Hey! What the fuck, man?" Brad stood himself up to come to Aya's aide but, he gets stopped by Ms. Kagura, who was also holding a gun. "That goes for you, too, pretty boy. Sit down and shut up before we start lowering the class roster, got it?" Ms. Kagura ordered Brad with a cold tone to her voice, like she didn't care if he listened or not… or if she shot him dead or not. Brad retreated back into his seat as Paul grabbed a nearby boy by his shoulder "You. Get that bitch off my floor." The boy Paul ordered was a young Asian boy named Tsu Lin, who stood up and moved over to help Aya back into her seat.

Mr. Falcon walked back up into the front, still holding his gun. "I really wanted to break it down easy for you guys but, now, I'm in a bad mood so, I am going to have to tell it to you straight. Whether you get this or not, is not my problem. In this game, it is you versus your friends, your enemies, the classmates you hardly even know… there could only be one. Someone is going to die out there. It's them or you." Brad's eyes widened as he muttered "… what the hell?"


	3. Chapter 3: Game Start

Mr. Falcon moved to the front of the class room, his hand still clasping the gun that he pulled out to threaten the Transfer student. "I really wanted to break it down easy for you guys but, now, I'm in a bad mood. So, I am going to have to tell it to you straight. Whether you get this or not, is not my problem. In this game, it is you versus your friends, your enemies, the classmates you hardly even know… there could only be one. Someone is going to die out there. It's them or you."

Brad couldn't believe the words coming out of that man's mouth. Neither could the other students. The room was in a deep silence, all eyes were centering upon Mr. Falcon. Mr. Falcon saw all of this and smiled "Now that you have the basic premises of what is going on, I guess I will go on ahead and explain the rules." A really dark look to Mr. Falcon's grin unsettled everyone and let everyone know that this wasn't some sick joke.

Chapter 3

[Game Start]

"To put it simply, there aren't really very many rules to this game. As far as whatever that goes on in there, there is none. So, feel free to use whatever you might find as a weapon. Whether it be your strength, agility, intellect, the power to persuade others to do your bidding… sex appeal…" Mr. Falcon couldn't help but, lick his lips and let off a perverted chuckle upon mentioning 'sex appeal'. "In Japan's version of the Program, I've heard a lot of cases where girls end up being the sole survivor so, be mindful of that, gents." Mr. Falcon paced around, looking at the scared, confused gazes he received "Hmm.. you must be thinking a lot of questions but, first, let me tell you about those nifty neck braces you all are wearing!" Paul glanced over towards one of the soldiers standing near the door "You may let our example inside now…"

An older man in slacks and a ruffled, button-up shirt, and his hands bound behind him with handcuffs, was being escorted into the classroom. The students' eyes went wide as they took notice to the older man "T-Teach…" Mr. Falcon grinned, glancing over at the worn down, beaten old man "Ah, yes. Mr. Michaelis, you must feel honored that your class is going to be taking part of this lovely program." The old man coughed as he eyed up at Mr. Falcon "… y-you can go to hell…" Mr. Falcon tilted his head and cackled "Heh heh… my, my… so unappreciative."

Mr. Falcon turns to the class and smiles to the class "To simply put it, the little neck brace of yours is your way of letting the world know that you are still alive… or not. It's got a built in microphone for us to hear your conversations, a sensor that pinpoints where you are exactly, which leads us to the first rule. Don't try to escape… we will know where you are and when we catch you, you will be eliminated from the game. In other words, you will die."

The students couldn't help but, flinch. Any attempt of escape, they would notice due to this stupid brace. And the fact that they don't even know where they are to begin with, escape doesn't seem very likely. Mr. Falcon smiled, seeing the look of hopelessness in some of the student's faces. "There is one more amazing feature about your neck brace, which I consider to be my personal favorite! Instead of just telling you about it, let me just show you how it works." Mr. Falcon holsters the gun he's been carrying and reaches for another pocket, pulling a remote-like switch. He clicks a small button on the remote slowly. Mr. Michaelis' neck brace had a small red light flashing, with small beep sounding off in an increment of seconds. The students stood up from their seats, voicing out their wishes for Mr. Falcon to stop the timer. However, Mr. Falcon just sat there to watch it all unfold. The teacher, seeming like he knew that he didn't have much time left, looked up to his class, smiling faintly. "Everyone… I'm sorry for failing you as your teacher. I should have fought more… and due to my inactions, you've gotten involved in this matter. Please find it in your hearts to forgive me."

Brad blinked, standing to his feet "W-wait… Mr. Falcon, you don't…" Brad was all but, too late as a small explosion went off, originating from Mr. Michaelis' neck brace. Blood splattered all over things surrounding him, a girl being unfortunate to being bathed in the blood as well. Her arms were up, covering her face from the explosion. As she lowered her arms and glanced forward, a look of total horror displayed on her face "M-Mr. Michaelis…. Nooo…" she hiccupped, tears swelled down from her eyes. In the chair now rested the headless corpse of Mr. Michaelis. Mr. Michaelis' head rolled to the floor, everything from his lower jaw to his neck was blasted to nothing but, flesh particles that stained the floor below. Blood gushed like a pump out of the new, big hole where his head and neck used to be.

Girls shrieked in horror upon witnessing this happening in front of their eyes. Some who weren't in shock were crying over the sudden loss of their teacher. The rest of the students feared for their own safety.

And then, there were a very few students who also saw this, and smiled. "So, every single one of these has bombs that explode like that, huh? That's pretty damn sweet if you ask me, we gotta learn how to set them off without using that remote." A young man shaved bald on the sides and hair on top, slicked back. He told this to his other friends, two Mexican-American boys, who simply just laughed and agreed without any second thought.

"I hated that fuckin' teacher, anyway…" An African-American boy muttered amongst his friends as he watched the soldiers cleaning up the front of the room, taking the corpse with them.

Mr. Falcon just stood there and watched the many different reactions from the classroom and smiled. _"Huh… you could see whose going to do well and who isn't going to do so well just by this incident alone. Heh heh… how unfortunate, I wanted to wait and see when the crazy ones reveal themselves. Oh well…."_ Mr. Falcon stepped up and grinned "As you can see, the added feature to that brace of yours is a condition triggering bomb. One of those causes is if the neck brace is tampered with. If you try to take it off, you're as good as dead. Condition number two, I will have to get a little more into detail with."

Mr. Falcon moved back reaching up to pull a map down, showing the geography of what looks like a disserted island. "As you can tell, this is a map of an island. It is the map of this island to be exact. The island looks pretty huge and you can only think of how will anyone run into each other when the numbers drop? We came with a solution to that question. As time goes on and people die, there will be some parts of the island that's randomly selected to become a no-man's land. We call them 'Dead Zones'. As you can possibly tell, people who wander into a dead zone, their nifty little neck brace goes boom... do not pass 'Go', do not collect $200. Three such spots will be chosen daily and at random, and then announced over intercom, along with the list of current dead. If you just so happen to be within the death zone that just got announced, no worries, you still have about 30 minutes before the square of land becomes a Death Zone. Well, that's all there is to Death Zones and the number two cause of explosion."

Brad growled a bit, angered at the fact that they just killed their teacher and just went on like nothing even happened. "So what is this? You want us to get closed in with each other so that we will have no excuse but, to kill one another before the Death Zones close in on us?" Mr. Falcon turned to him and grinned "What is it, Mr. Turner? You sound upset. Seriously, kids could be so… what do you call it? Ah, right… 'emo'. Heh, as for your question, you guys wouldn't survive long enough for that scenario to happen, not without killing each other. That leads to cause number three."

Mr. Falcon grinned, eying the other students "If everyone decided not to comply with the games' mechanic, it'd make our show boring, no one is going to want to watch it. So, we will give you all a 'one day grace period', twenty-four hours. If not one person dies within that grace period, fireworks! All of those lovely neck braces you wear around your necks will activate and go ka-boom! Forty-six heads will be roll on the floor and the game ends in disappointment, and you all die, anyway."

The students let out a gasp, fidgeting and not knowing what to do. Josephine Hendrix sighed, running a finger through her hair _"Ugh… I'm gonna have to get my hands dirty. But, I don't wanna die so; I'll just have to make due with it."_ She grinned to her thoughts, looking around the room _"None of these sheep would dare hurt their idol. But, I'm going to slaughter them all…"_

Mr. Falcon grinned "Alright, shut up with your crying! You know the rules so, it's time to play the game! Now, in these duffel bags, we supplied the basic essentials since, we didn't want you to die by any other means. Water, food, basic first-aid, a heat absorbed blanket… that is if you even get any chance to use it, a flashlight, a small map and a pen that you could use to mark dead zones, meet up places, whatever, and one random weapon. The weapon you get is random, so random that even I don't know what's contained in the bags. Some of you might get very lucky and get a good weapon. Some of you will not be so lucky. Oh and one more thing, it'd be wise to leave this area for the area around the school will go 'Dead Zone' in forty-five minutes!"

Everyone gasped a bit at hearing this, Mr. Falcon pulls out the list of students. "Well, I hurry and get this out of the way. I will call your name. You will then come up, grab a duffel bag and leave. You could head out the front of the back exits, your choice. May I have Boy one, Henry Sims, come on up." The young man with his hair slicked back stood up, giving a cocky smirk "Heh… I get the first pick, huh? Lucky…" Henry walked up to the front with a cocky strut to his walk. His eyes met with Brad's and he formed his hand like it were a gun and pointed at him jerking his hand back a little and muttered "Boom, bitch!" He turned away and picked up his bag and made his way out of the building.

"Girls number one, Josephine Hendrix, you're up." Mr. Falcon grinned, eying the girl as she stood up and made he way up. As Josephine went to pick up a bag, Mr. Falcon suddenly grabs her by the arm and leaned close, whispering "Give me a good show, baby… a show I can jerk off to…" Josephine tugs her arm out of his grip and smiled "Stay tuned…" She picks up her bag and moved out of the room. Mr. Falcon watched her go, only to turn and notice Ms. Kagura wasn't all too pleased about that little scene. Mr. Falcon coughed a bit and glanced up "Now, the next one up is…"

One student after another was called up, the room getting emptier as time went by. A soldier took over the number call, Mr. Falcon and Ms. Kagura headed out to the studio to keep watch of all that was going on. "Number twenty-two of the boys, Scott Meyer." Scott stood up and looked to Brad, who would be the last boy to be called and to Mandy "I-I'll wait for you two… o-outside of the room." Scott walked up and picked up his duffel bag and stepped out side of the room.

"Girl number 22, Mara Flannery." As the girl got up, Brad looked over to Mara "Hey Mara, you should wait for us, too." Mara smiled and shook her head "Naw, I'm sure my friends are waiting out there for me. Thanks, though." She went and grabbed a bag, running out as fast as she could to try and catch up with her friends. Scott tried to stop and convince Mara to stay but, she was already out the door. "Boy and Girl number 23, Bradford Turner and Mandy Winchester, please come up and get your bags. And you better hurry; you've only got thirty minutes left." Brad and Mandy stood up and got their bags and met up with Scott.

"Th-this is unreal…" Scott muttered as they all head towards the front exit. Brad turned to Scott and shook his head "Relax, I'm sure no one is buying into this crap. We will group together and figure something out." Mandy sighed "I really do hope so. We don't have to kill each other… right?" Brad smiled at her "No, we don't." Scott nodded "Yeah, I think we are just feeling paranoid over this stipulation crap. No one is going to buy into it." Brad grabs the door handle and twists, pushing the door open "First thing we gotta do is get out of this place before this place goes dead zone, then we-" Brad stopped, suddenly seeing a girl falling back and landing hard on her back. Brad, Mandy, and Scott all glanced down, seeing that it was Mara Flannery, with an arrow piercing through her forehead. She stared up at Brad with lifeless eyes.

Brad could hardly breathe, suddenly dropping to his knees with tears welling up in his eyes "M-Mara..?!" Mandy couldn't help but, scream in sheer terror, to see a girl who was only seconds before them, lying there, dead. Scott was screaming out as well as much a man can scream. His whole body shook down to his very legs "Th-They're playing… god damn it, they are fucking playing…" Brad pushed the palm of his hand against his head, hiccupping within his words "… Damn you, Mara… why didn't you wait for us… stupid…"

A rustle from a nearby bush grabbed all three of their attentions, and out stepped Paul Thompson, holding a crossbow aimed at them. "Don't move! Don't you fucking move, assholes!"

**Girl #22: Mara Flannery – Status: ELIMINATED**

**Remaining Players: 45**


	4. Chapter 4: Victims

Brad pushed the door open and gasped, suddenly seeing a girl falling back and landing hard on her back. Brad, Mandy, and Scott all glanced down, seeing that the girl was Mara Flannery, with an arrow piercing through her forehead. She stared up at Brad with lifeless eyes.

Brad could hardly breathe, suddenly dropping to his knees with tears welling up in his eyes "M-Mara..?!" Mandy couldn't help but, scream in sheer terror, to see a girl who was only seconds before them was now lying there, dead. Scott screamed out as well. He clasped his head with his hands and quivered "Th-they're playing… God damn it, they are fucking playing…"

Brad was reduced to tears, looking over Mara's corpse "… Damn you, Mara… why didn't you wait for us… stupid…" A rustle from a nearby bush grabbed all three of their attentions, and out stepped Paul Thompson, aiming his crossbow at them. "Don't move! Don't you fucking move, assholes!"

**Girl #22: Mara Flannery – Status: ELIMINATED**

**Remaining Players: 45**

Chapter 4

[Victims]

Paul Thompson crept his way out while the two boys and girl mourned the loss of that slut, Mara. Paul teeth clenched at the site of them crying over her death. They just didn't know enough like Paul did. He remembered, he remembered the grief that Mara and her friends caused him. "Don't move! Don't you fucking move, assholes!" Paul shouted, knowing that he was a good enough distance to keep these morons from doing anything. Paul eyed the three of them, taking in their faces and knew all three of them. Mandy Winchester, a sweet girl… or was she really? Maybe it was Paul's own paranoia but, he didn't think Mandy was very legit. Brad, everyone knew Brad, a typical preppy that tried to be everyone's friend. He can't be trusted either. Then, there was Scott, Brad's underling of sorts; he doesn't hold much of a presence as Brad does. Can't trust him!

Paul's finger almost toyed at pulling on the trigger as he heard the wailing cries from them. "Why… why are you playing? Why did you kill Mara?" Brad stifled within his sobs, a look of sorrow in his eyes. So annoying, why in the hell should he be so sad over this slut? Paul aimed the crossbow in Brad's direction, staring him down "Shut the hell up! Do you really think we have a choice in the matter? It's 'kill' or 'be killed'… and I don't think everyone wants to gather around a camp fire and sing camp songs while waiting for our heads to blow up! And don't get me started on Mara… I have lots of reasons I put that bitch to sleep!"

Scott yelled "We could of figured something out… we could of thought out a way to get out of this mess. And when is there ever a good enough reason to kill someone?!" Paul grimaced and aimed his crossbow towards Scott "Shut up! I had to kill her, along with the rest of those assholes who picked on me every fucking day at school. Th-they are out to kill me… I know it."

Paul's mind seemed to slip to an old memory. He was in the hallway, lying on his side as two guys kicked at his back. "Hey, hey… what's the matter, big guy? If I had a body like that, I would run this whole damn school and yet, to see you acting like a wimp… Tch, it pisses me the hell off! Grow some balls, faggot!" Paul stayed there quietly, taking on more abuse until they got bored with him. "…. Damn, what a waste…" he heard one of the boys say as they walked away.

Paul sat up a bit, brushing his arm over the scratches on his face. He heard giggles coming from behind and glanced back, seeing three girls, one of them being Mara Flannery. "Yuck! By the way he just takes it, it makes you think he enjoys it…" one of the girls said. "He wants a little dominate boy to do him up the ass… how gross is that?" said the other. Mara took the wrapper from her sandwich and balled it up, throwing it at Paul's face. "Oops… I thought I saw a pile of garbage on the floor, sorry." The girls laughed amongst themselves and walked away. Paul sat there, clasping his forehead and broke into tears.

Paul released one of his hands from his crossbow and gripped his forehead "… Damn it… they are always hurting me, making fun of me. And now, thanks to this game, they will be coming for me, to kill me… I won't let them do it!" Brad waved his arms out to Paul, shaking his head "Listen, Paul… we aren't going after you… me, Scott, and Mandy… we won't try to kill you. We aren't even playing this game…"

"**YOU'RE LYING!!!"**

A crazed look on Paul's face was now apparent, any sort of reasoning was gone. "You think I'm stupid, don't you? You think the gentle giant will blindly accept anything just for an easy kill. No fucking way, I'll fucking kill you first!" Paul aimed his crossbow right for Brad, training his aim. Brad waited a moment and ducked as soon as Paul pulled the trigger, the arrow flying just above Brad and sinking into the school's door. "Shit…" Paul cursed as he reached for an arrow from a quiver he wore on his back and worked on reloading the crossbow, being rather slow about it.

Scott saw this as a chance to get out of this situation. Scott charged right for Paul while he was trying to reload. Brad blinked a bit and called "Scott, no. Wait!" Paul managed to reload his gun before Scott could reach him, shooting frantically and managing to hit Scott in his left leg, just above the knee. "Gawck!" Scott cried in pain as the arrow pierced his leg, causing Scott to fall down to all fours. Paul went to load another arrow, telling himself the next one will be a killing blow. Brad managed to be luckier than Scott was, starting to charge at Paul as soon as he shot his second arrow.

Paul didn't see Brad coming, dropping his crossbow as soon as Brad tackled him to the floor. Brad got onto his knees and punched Paul across the face. Mandy moved over to help Scott up, letting him lean on her for support. "Brad! We got to get out of here." Paul shook off the daze from being punch and went searching for his bow gun. This gave Brad a chance to grab the bags and run alongside Scott and Mandy, letting Scott use him as support, too.

Paul glance around, his heart pounded as he couldn't find his crossbow anywhere. "Damn it… where is it?! Where the fuck is it?! Damn it…" He would not see the other person walking over and picking up the very crossbow that Paul was looking for and aimed down at him. The arrow ran deep through the back of Paul's skull and the very tip of the arrow pierced out through the front. Paul was dead even before his body could collapse to the floor.

"… Heh... I knew I heard a Wild Boar squealing out here…" A wide grin formed on the face of Justin Ericks. He bent down and removed the quiver off from Paul and snickered. "Long range..." He said while eying the crossbow. He turned to his right, reaching over and pulled out a hunting knife, which he must have received as a weapon. "… close-range… I think I've got this covered…" He also went ahead and took some of the provisions from Paul's bag and put it into his own. "Oops… time is running out." He muttered to himself as he got up and moved along.

**Boy #14: Paul Thompson – Status: ELIMINATED**

**Remaining Players: 44**

Paul Falcon was actually surprised, sitting in the video room and watching the cameras that are watching over the actions of the forty-six students out there. Or should he say, forty-four. He was quite surprised how fast everyone was getting into the game, especially with how they acted in the class room. "Ha, this is so exciting. Even I've become a fan and I run this show! Rena, come over and watch with me." Paul patted at his lap but, Rena would only stand beside him. "It's Miss Kagura…" she wouldn't forget mentioning that while her eyes focused on the screens.

Paul snickered a bit at Rena and glanced back at the screens, when his eyes fell upon one screen in particular. "Whoa ho ho… What is going on in that screen? Hey, full screen frame twenty-one!" The image went on all of the screens and shown a girl and a guy making out behind a tree with bushes hiding them. "Mmm…" Paul laughed, recognizing the girl's voice from that moan alone. "Heh… that bitch is putting a show on for me, already."

The boy pulled from the kiss and looked Josephine in the eyes. "Please, do it for me, Josephine…" Josephine glanced down and smiled back up at the boy "Anything for you, James…" Josephine dropped down onto her knees and reaches for the boy's pants. "Oooo… yes! This is the kind of thing our show needs!" However, it wasn't a scene that he was expecting, suddenly seeing Josephine suddenly jabbing James in the genital area with what looked to be a fork.

James almost puked from the pain he felt after having his balls punctured in with a fork. Josephine didn't bother taking the fork out and reached for what looked like a Sickle. She stood up and swung for James' neck, not necessarily cutting the boy's head off but, deep enough to give the boy's neck the "PEZ" effect. As the boy falls over, Josephine readjusts her top and walks off from the camera's view.

**Boy #15: James Hinderson – Status: ELIMINATED**

**Remaining Players: 43**

Paul Falcon sat there, coughing a bit. "Wow… that is no way to go…" He glanced over, eying Rena. "Ya know, Rena… it's been a while since we last made out… how about it?" Rena sighed and closed her eyes "… Sure." Paul grinned and stood up from his chair. However, Rena stopped him from getting closer and eyed him coldly "… let me find a fork, first." That stopped Paul in his tracks, letting Rena turn and walk out of the video room. Paul sighed, shaking his head "Rena… man, what a bitch. But, I love her for it! Rena! Wait…" Paul ran off after her.

An operator running the screens switched the view back to all of the cameras. "Man… that was pretty brutal. Where in the hell did they come from?" One of the operators asked. The operator shook his head "I don't know but, from the way these kids are going… this game won't even last a week." They glanced at one another and shrugged, keeping an eye on the screens, to keep track of the death tolls.


	5. Chapter 5: Trapped

The area around the school looked deserted, save for the bodies of Mara Flannery and Paul Thompson. It only made sense since the first 45 minutes of the game were at its very last seconds

**45 minutes into the game… Area 4-D is now "Dead Zone"**

Chapter 5

[Trapped]

Jin Chou is Arcadia High School's Kendo team captain and helped taught many under classmen. It was only fitting that his duffel bag carried a Katana. Jin pushed his way through the brush, looking around frantically through the brush in this dark, humid night. "Julie? Julie! Where did she go?" Jin asked himself, pushing the hilt of his sword against his forehead. "I swear to god if something happens to my sister, I'll kill everyone in this fucking island. My classmates, the pig-faced bastard and his slutty girlfriend, too…" Jin gripped the hilt of his blade as he remembered the day before everything went to hell.

"_Say, big brother, even though we are forced to live separately… you will always be my big brother, right?"_

The Shopping Mall of Arcadia was busy, especially during the weekends. Sitting out in the Food Court with a box of Great Khan's Chinese Food in front of him, Jin looked over towards his sister, Julie, with a weird look on his face. "Idiot… what do you mean by that? I will always be your big brother, no matter what. Even the stupid Judicial System can't separate us, for sure!' Jin raised his hand, giving her head a playful rub that kind of messed with her hair.

Julie gave a playful frown, pushing her brother's hand off of her head and went to fix her hair back up into place "Geez, big brother, you always mess up my hair like that, even when we were kids." Jin laughed a bit and looked her in the eyes "Just think of it as my way of promising you that I will never forget and I will always be your big brother."

Julie smiled brightly, reaching over and brushed a tear from her right eye. "Big brother…" She sighed, fighting the urge to cry and punched Jin in the shoulder. "Stupid big brother, you aren't supposed to make your little sister cry!" Jin smiled, shaking his head "Right… we are supposed to have fun today, let's go!"

_Jin stood from his chair and clasped onto his sister's hand, pulling her from the table. Jin picked up his and his sister's trash from the table while holding his sister's hand firmly._

Jin now sat alone within the bitter stillness of the forest. He leaned his head against his Katana, both of his hands gripping the sheath tightly as tears ran down his cheeks. _There is no time to feel regret or to cry… I have to find Julie!_ With that thought in his mind, Jin got up from the floor and continued his walk, hoping to find his sister somewhere close by. The sooner he found her, the better.

--

A small opening out in the middle of nowhere seemed like the best place to settle to Brad, allowing his wounded friend, Scott, to rest up against a tree. "Hey Mandy, do we have anything in those bags that we could patch Scott's leg up with?" Mandy was kneeling over her bag and picked up what looked like a First Aid kit. "I believe so…" She opened the kit up and smiled "Wow, they even gave us stuff to stitch with, and rubbing alcohol! Still, I wish we didn't have to use it…"

Brad looked over to Scott and eyed the arrow that was still inside his thigh. "Alright, Scott… I'm going to pull this thing out of ya so, bare with me, okay?" Brad slowly placed his hand around the arrow's head, making sure it wasn't going to snap when he tried to pull it out and cause even more pain to his friend. As he's about to pull, Scott stops him "W-wait! Hold on…" Scott took in a deep breath and grasped at Brad's shoulders with both hands as tightly as he can. "A-Alright… do it!"

Brad pulled as hard as he can, closing his eyes as he felt the arrow's blade being freed from Scott's leg. Scott whole body quivered as he raised his head, crying out in pain **"AAAUGH!!! …. FUCK!!!"** Scott lowered his head and clasped his leg as tears ran down his eyes "Damn it, that hurt…. Fuck me…" Brad nearly choked on his own vomit as he eyed the arrow in his hand. He dropped it and staggered his way away from the group. "Muh-Mandy… I'll let you handle his wound… oh god, I'm going to be sick…"

As Brad went to find a bush that wasn't close enough for them to smell, Mandy sighed and looked over to Scott. "Your friend doesn't seem to be a very capable doctor." Despite the immense pain he was in, Scott managed to let out a chuckle "Brad was always like that. He hated movies with gore in it; he'd feel queasy even when we tell him that it's just a Hollywood prop." Mandy giggled as she pulled out the rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball from the First Aid Kit.

She dabbed some rubbing alcohol onto a cotton ball and looked to Scott "This is going to sting like hell but, I need to get your wound clean before I stitch you up." She lightly runs the cotton swab around and on the wound. Scott gritted his teeth, definitely feeling the sting "Ughn…" Mandy stopped a little, looking up towards Scott "Are you alright?" Scott smiled down at Mandy, even if he still winced at the sting of the alcohol on his wound "Y-yeah… thanks, Mandy."

Brad stopped a moment as he was returning, watching Mandy and Scott from afar. Brad smiled a bit as he remembered what Scott said that one night:

"… _What I'm trying to say is… I think there is a girl that I… um… that I kinda like…"_

"You go, Scott. You go." Brad muttered to himself, proud that his friend managed to find his happiness even during a time of dire straights.

--

Paul Falcon and Rena Kagura returned from taking a short break. Paul glanced around, seeing the staff looking over towards them. He stepped beside Rena and placed his arm around her. "Aww... Now that was a good way to work out our stress, right Rena-chan?" Rena reached over her shoulder and peeled Paul's arm off from her shoulders "… It's Kagura-san… and I don't know what you are trying to imply but, I recall that you went back to your office, **ALONE**."

This made the other guys in the room snicker amongst themselves as Paul's robust attitude was brought down a notch "… Rena-chan, you're so cold…" Rena glared at Paul "…. Don't make me kick you… its Kagura-san!" Paul leaned close to Rena, whispering into her ear "Would you please?" Rena's face twitched in disgust as she slaps Paul across the face "Go back to the hell of which you came, pervert!"

One of the staff members blinked a bit as he watched the screen. He turned over and looked over at Paul, seeing Paul standing there and rubbing his cheek "Say, Paul… you did tell them about those… you know…" Paul had a puzzled look on his face as he glanced down at his, poking at each finger as he said "Well… I told them the rules… I told them about the neck braces… I told them what would happen if they tried to escape… the Dead Zones… and…" Paul stopped talking. Paul gasped as the look of realization formed on his face, making him slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead. "… Oh my… I totally forgot to tell them about _**THOSE**_…" The staff member slowly turned around as he coughed "Oh boy… this is going to get ugly…"

A sadistic smile formed on Rena's face as she looked over at Paul "Heh… you didn't tell them on purpose, didn't you?" Paul glanced back at Rena and smiled back "… If I said yes, will that get you into bed with me?" Rena's smile faded as she turned away "Nope." As Rena walked away, Paul sighed and shook his head "Ugh… what a man does for his country…" Paul sat down in his chair and watched all the small images on the wall of screens.

--

Peter Jensen and Whitney Moore found themselves out on a plain covered in tall grass. "… Do you think this is safe to just walk through?" Whitney asked Peter as he led her on through the center of the grassy area. Peter didn't hold his composure very well, glancing around nervously. "I-I don't know, Whitney… I-I would rather just keep moving instead of having some freak fine me!"

_Click_!

Peter stopped and glanced back over to Whitney, glancing down to see that what Whitney stepped on was a land mine. "Wait!!! Whitney, don't move!" Whitney had no idea what was going on but, she didn't move an inch "Wh-what is it?" Peter backed away, pointing down towards Whitney's foot "Y-You stepped on a landmine!" Whitney's whole face went pale; there was no need to explain the function of a landmine. Whitney's eyes started to water as she looked back up to Peter. "P-Peter… y-you're going to help me out of this, right?" Peter backed up some more as he shook his head "… Whitney, I'm sorry. I just, I can't save you now… I'm sorry!" Peter turned away and took off running. "Peter?! PETER!!! Don't leave me here!!! Please... help me!"

Whitney's cries ate away at Peter's mind as he ran away, tears flowing behind him as he ran through the grass. _There was nothing I could do, forgive me, Whit-_ It was a bit too late for him to realize that his next step had no density like the rest of the grassy earth. The hole was deep and wide, enough for Peter's whole body to fall through. "Waaaah-Huk!" Peter's finally landed, not on the dirt surface, much rather, a bed of long, iron spikes. Peter's body sank down, letting the spikes impale his entire body.

Whitney's tear ducts appeared to run dry. No matter how much she cried out, there will be no one to save her. Her leg was going numb, maybe if she moved her leg a little, it would all feel better.

**KABOOM!!!**

Whitney didn't feel a thing as her numerous body parts rained down on the blood soaked earth.

**Boy #10: Peter Jensen – Status: ELIMINATED**

**Girl #4: Whitney Moore – Status: ELIMINATED**

**Remaining Players: 41**

--

Meanwhile, Edward Pike carefully walked among the trees as he glanced over his shoulder. "Oh man, I thought I just heard an explosion… I better get out of here…" Being too focused on his surroundings, he didn't see a rope tide around the tree he was moving around, stepping right on top of it. He noticed a bit too late, glancing down at the rope. "Huh? What did I do?" Edward Pike wouldn't see the big log swinging towards his head.

_**CRUNCH!**_

The speed of the log's swing and being in between that log and the tree, Edward's head was rendered as nothing more than a squashed watermelon. The rest of Edward's body collapsed to the floor and flinched due to his body's natural shock.

**Boy #21: Edward Pike – Status: ELIMINATED**

**Remaining Players: 40**

The staff member stood up and turned to Paul. "Mr. Falcon, I think it's time you told them about the traps… if we let this go, these kids won't even last a week out there!" Paul Falcon frowned a bit upon hearing the staff member telling him to make the announcement "… Such a kill joy… you know you thought that one trap with boy getting his head smashed was funny. I'll make the announcement."

The announcement could be heard all over the island, all for the remaining Forty boys and girls to hear. "Hello, hello! Before you all continue on your killing sprees, take a moment to hear me out. Thing is, there was one little thing I forgot to mention about. And thanks to that, three more of you have been killed. My bad, heh heh heh…"

"… no…" Mandy placed both hands over her face, tears welling up in her eyes. "… Son of a bitch… this prick is enjoying this…" Scott growled as he listened in on the announcement along with Mandy and Brad. Brad waved him off to be quiet, wondering what it was that killed the three other people.

"Well, the thing is, we wanted to do something different that the Japanese decided not to do, just to add a bit of a challenge to our players out there! The whole Island has a nice array of different kinds of booby traps. Fear not, you won't have to duck every corner just to dodge these traps, they are spaced out nicely. Only, it'll be hard to tell whether you're near one or not so, trust your instincts!"

Jin's worries became greater as soon as he heard about the traps.. "… Julie…"

"Well, that's it for the emergency announcement. You will hear from me again in six hours! Good night, my little players! That's if you can sleep… ha ha ha!" The speaker goes off and all was left was silence.

No one would sleep this night…


	6. Chapter 6: Number's Game

The night was long and cold for the inhabitants of the island, fearing that the moment they closed their eyes, it would be the very last thing they ever do. The fear kept them awake, only to have the sun rise up to mock them. Their first day in hell has passed but, there will be many more to come. As promised, the crackling sound of the speakers over the islanded sounded at the specified time.

"… Gooooood morning, Players! It's your lovable Mr. Falcon here! Did you get a good night's sleep? I sure did! That nice, fluffy bed felt lovely~! Well, you must be looking forward to getting at each other's throats… literally… so, let me get this morning briefing going!"

Chapter 6

[Number's Game]

"Son of a bitch, he's enjoying this… that sick fuck!" Scott nearly yelled, sitting back against the tree he's been resting against since he's gotten his leg treated. Scott fell silent as Brad motioned his hand over at him to calm down "Hold on, Scott, we still have to listen in to keep track of those 'Dead Zones'." The group went silent as they listened to Mr. Falcon's announcement.

"Let's start off with the players that were eliminated last night! As this list grows, and you're hearing it, means you are that much closer to winning! So, here we go.

"Miss Mara 'I couldn't even get out the door without dying!' Flannery, Girl #22, was the first one to go in a not so exciting fashion.

"Paul "Thy Weapon is Thy Worst Enemy' Thompson, Boy #14, died right after that. His death wasn't very remarkable, either… save, he was put away with his own weapon!"

Brad clutched his hand into a fist, punching at the ground, tears rolling down his face "… Mara… and Paul, too… they were right there in front of us and we couldn't help them…" Mandy glanced over at Brad and frowned. She reached over and patted Brad's shoulder, having a bit of trouble fighting off tears of her own.

Mr. Falcon continued naming people who died that night, making some wise cracks about their deaths. "James 'Can't quite stick a fork in it' Hinderson, Boy #15… ha, it was too rich. I dare you to walk by his corpse and not laugh… ha. I think it was in Area 4-B… just look for the fork in the… never mind… -cough- anyways…

"Peter 'Who put that trap there?' Jensen, Boy #10… he wasn't very 'sharp'… ha! Whitney 'My personality rains everywhere!' Moore, Girl #4… she went out with a bang! Both of those deaths had some wow factor in them but, I say the best death of the day belongs to… Edward 'Enough to make your head splatter!' Pike! A prime example that you just don't know what's going to happen from one moment to the next! His death will be added to the 'Most Memorable Death' highlight reel for a bonus feature in the 'Program: Season One Collector's Edition' DVD! Thank you for that lovely scene, Edward! You will be missed… or not."

Scott growled, not very appreciative about the way Mr. Falcon was all happy and gung-ho while announcing his classmates' deaths, making fun of them even, "… Damn him. Among everyone on this god damned island, he deserves to die the most…" Mandy looked over at Scott and nodded "I agree… but, at this rate…" Brad shook off his emotions, waving them off while focusing back down on the miniature map of the island, thin-tipped marker in hand. "… Hold on, Scott, Mandy…"

"Now, onto important matters, matters that affect you most so, the wise would most likely listen to this portion of the announcements. Keep in mind that I will only say this information twice! Yes, this is the first set of areas that are going 'Dead Zone'! I hope you got your map and writing utensils ready because, this could be crucial to your life and death situation! Area 2-F will be going dead zone in two hours, Area 6-C will follow suit two hours, and then, in a whopping six hours from now, Area 3-A goes under!"

Brad marked the areas and scribbled down times in the spaces as quickly as he can. He took the second time to proofread his markings to make sure he didn't make any mistakes, listening into Mr. Falcon's repeat of the new 'Dead Zones'. "I'll repeat it only once! Area 2-F in two hours, Area 6-C in four hours, and Area 3-A in six hours! Well, now it's time to let the game resume! Don't disappoint me now, Players~!"

Mandy sighed in relief "Looks like our area is still safe for today. I think we should stay here and relax a bit. Where are we again?" Scott nodded and looked over at the duffle bags. "Say, do we have anymore of that string? We should set up a security system of sorts." Mandy blinked a bit "Security system?"

Brad joined in with a nod "Yeah, Scott and I used to do that when we were kids. We'd tie some strings around the area and tie the rope to either a rock or a piece of wood. Then, we place it close to our camp and we'd know something was close when the rock or piece of wood got pulled over. Could you help me gather materials, Mandy?" Scott pointed towards the duffle bags "Hand me those bags, I'll get the rope ready while the both of you gather those materials. I'm sorry, Mandy."

Mandy smiled and nodded, looking down at Scott. "Not to worry, Scott; at least you are helping us with the string. But, once you feel better, I'll make you do all the hard work, got it?" Mandy smiled at him and turned to follow Brad, helping with gathering materials from the surrounding area. Meanwhile, Scott started unwinding the string and judging how long they needed the string to be.

--

Boy #2 and Girl #3, Joshua Gabriel and Cassandra Noland hid themselves deep in the woods, kissing each other passionately. Joshua had removed his pants and shirt off, standing on all fours over the girl. He pulled away a bit and looked Cassandra in the eyes "I feel so wrong… doing this here. But, everything is so uncertain, you know…" Cassandra laid underneath him, down to nothing but, her bra and panties. She looked him in the eyes as he started feeling sorry, which made her shake her head and place her index finger over her lips. "Hush… I wanted this just as much as you did. So, shut up and love me, fuck me…" Cassandra smiled, whispering to him, biting at her lower lip.

Joshua smiled and blushed heavily, nodding "I have never been so happy, Cassandra… Cassandra?" Joshua blinked a bit, seeing the look of total fear was read on Cassandra's face. Joshua couldn't quite understand why she was making such a face until, he felt the cold barrel of a gun push up against the back of his head. The same feeling of fear enveloped his own body, sweat the size of beads raining from his head as he glanced back from the corner of his eyes.

"What's goin' on, cracka-heads? Tryin' to get yo' freak on or somethin'?" Boy #6, Dwayne Howard, had his 9mm pressed up against Joshua's head. "Damn… fuckin' honkies, as soon as somethin' gone wrong, they drop their pants… Ain't that right?" Two other boys emerged from the trees, laughing as they stared down at both Joshua and Cassandra. Boy #8, Bryan Mathers, patted a steel bat against his hand, looking like he wanted to bust someone's head open with it. Boy #19, Mike Woodland, held a Remington. He aimed his shotgun down at Cassandra's head, looking ready to blast her silly little head off when given the chance.

"W-wait, guys…" Joshua begged as he looked back towards Dwayne. "We aren't playing. We don't want to have any part of this…" Joshua's cheeks were covered in tears as he continued to beg. "Please… you could kill me but, don't kill Cassandra…" Dwayne stayed quiet for most of the time as Joshua nearly begged for mercy but, as soon as Joshua said it was fine to kill him, Dwayne simply pulled the trigger.

**Boy #2 Joshua Gabriel – Status: ELIMINATED**

**Players Remaining: 39**

"Wait, no…" Cassandra gasped and cried out as the silver bullet penetrated the back of Joshua's skull and exited out from the front. Joshua's body collapsed on top of Cassandra, his eyes staring lifelessly into hers. Cassandra hiccupped as tears ran down her face in streams, clutching her lover's body in her arms. "No… Joshua, no… you can't leave me… Joshua… JOSHUA!!!" She cried out loud, hugging Joshua's body tightly, even if blood and brain matter stained her body. Mike trained his shotgun for Cassandra's head, smirking "You'll be reunited with him sooner than you think!"

However, Bryan reached over and told Mike to stop just before he was about to pull the trigger. "Naw, not yet… I've got a better idea." Bryan told his comrades "It's rare to find a decent fuck, especially out here… and this bitch is lookin' good right now… I say we take her, we fuck her, and then we reunite her with that cracka! Spoils of war, 'ight?!" Both boys laugh as they eyed the girl, licking their lips like a pack of hungry wolves. "Yeah, I like that idea… I like that idea very much. C'mon, let's take this bitch for a walk."

Cassandra's eyes widened as she heard what they were planning to do to her. She screeched out in horror as she tried to get away. "AIIIIIIEEEE!!!! Someone, anyone! Help me!!!" Her cries fell silent as Mike rammed the butt of his shotgun against her solar plexus. Cassandra dropped to the floor, the blow knocking the wind out of her body. As she gasped for air, Mike hoisted her up on his shoulder and all three boys walked deep into the woods, with Cassandra in tow.

Day two of the game has only begun…


End file.
